Shiny new blog!

The very gifted Lucy Tartan has gathered together some of my favouritest Australian bloggers for Sarsaparilla, a group blog on the literary yartz.

Go bookmark it now!

Snippets

Bit worn out at the 'mo, but I'm sure I'll think of something soon, or someone will piss me off sufficiently to blog about it.

Current front runner is Sydney's Daily Telegraph, which - despite 5000 dead after an earthquake in Indonesia and violent instability in East Timor - leads the front page with GAYCARE REVOLT. From the skerricks of actual information concealed deep in the article, it appears there's a daycare centre in Marrickville where the carers read "Heather has two Mummies" to the kids. The same book I offered to take to my son's daycare a couple of weeks ago - they're reading stories about all kinds of families because a couple of the kids' parents are separating. (Updated - according to the news, it's these - which I've read and think the froth mouthed ragers should too. And Georg has a terrific post up at LP, which has already attracted some of the "stop ramming homosexuality down my two year old's throat" comments the Telegraph is trying to encourage.)


By the way, if you want your marriage to last 30 years like Angela Shanahan's, there are some dos and don'ts. Short version: Don't root anyone else. Do root your husband.

Also, climbing mountains is dumb.

Can Angela Shananan really be so stupid as her columns seem to indicate?

Canberra is a country town in may ways but we can hold our head high next to the big cities when it comes to mindless right wing newspaper commentary.

Angela Shanahan writes an opinion piece for the Saturday Canberra Times. Her husband is the Chief Political Reporter for The Australian. I normally don't mention this kind of thing, but as she bangs on about having dinner with the Howards and her nine children I thought I'd just pop it in for the hell of it.

Anyhoo, this week's article is titled "Ideology at fault for imperilling the lives of Aboriginal women and children". Shanahan was enraged by a Canberra Times editorial which said the situation could only be described as "a law and order issue" by "right-wing commentators and strict law and order advocates".

It is obviously a law and order issue to Angela - it's a straightforwad solution to a problem that doesn't have any other dimensions. It seems to me that there need to be more Police assisting Aboriginal communities, but having more Police isn't enough. For a start people need to be safe and supported to make complaints, to cope with giving evidence and dealing with Court experiences, to be prepared to lose a case or for an offender to be released. Saying "more cops" just doesn't cut it.

She winds up saying: "The notion of Aboriginal autonomy under the law and Aboriginal welfare in general has been for a long time dominated by the left - as if they invented the notion of self-determination and freedom."

Look mate, your team's been the frickin' government for ten (long) years, six of them after the horrifying report by Boni Robertson that you mention. The fact that so many Aboriginal people are living in such brutal abjection can't just be because TEH LEFT isn't satisfied that more cops is the whole answer.

My exciting news

Still pinching myself occasionally when I think about my new job. I'm going to be working as a research assistant on a project setting up a database that will eventually become a wiki on the war rugs of Afghanistan. Blogging got me a job, kids!

I'm already finding out that some of the things I thought I knew about Islam and Islamic art are way off the mark. As illustrated by the Farsi inscription under this portrait of Khomieni, which says “They open the door of the drinking house and we go there day and night as we are sick of going to the mosque and the school.”



There's also a love poem in there, featuring sentiments like being “lovesick at the beauty of your eyes”. I haven't yet confirmed if they follow you 'round the room.

The project has its own blog, which is here; the image above is from a US site, warrug.com.

Silver Whining

Oh, The Australian shits me sometimes. Today it's the whoppin' great cover picture of Richard Howard and some toothy chick in a red dress (nice red bra stickin' out of it, too). It's reported that Miss Fang "attracted more than her fair share of attention" at the White House do. I'm sure that has nothing to do with the fact that she's a pretty young woman in a tight red dress in a room full of crusty old conservative men. I also wonder what special White House protocol officer determines the appropriate ration of attention for each guest. Heh. I'd like that job.

One of my colleagues, a bona fide former debating champion, was more upset with The Australian calling Richard "a former debating champion" - "debating champion my arse!" was in fact the phrase she used. Apparently he was so cut at not making the debating "A" team one year he started his own debating society. And put himself on the A team. Which wouldn't be that tricky if you were the head of the student union.

Still, there's lots of happy news in the paper. Hello Brendan Nelson!

I don't like to say it, but onya Jackie Kelly

I had wondered whether Jackie Kelly's last big splash in the Sun Herald on childcare a few months ago was a soften-up for some big long daycare news in the budget, but that was obviously not the case.

So I'm pleased to see her pushing the issue again yesterday, saying that Labor takes childcare more seriously (perhaps because there are women with young children in cabinet*), that Howard wants women at home with babies and that even some women who agree with him choose to work for one reason or another.

I'm not quite so sure about her view that improving childcare would lessen the divorce rate, but it's not a ridiculous comment in the context of the emotional and financial stresses that life with little kids can involve. Not to mention the horrible sinking realisation that you may have thrown that career down the toilet without realising what you've done. Little bit close to home, that last one.

* Weirdly, there are men with young children in Cabinet too, such as Lindsay Tanner, but somehow childcare is irrelevant to men's ability to work. It's not Jackie's fault. I blame Teh Patriarchy.

No lazy breakfast in bed for Mother's Day 'round here

Something much better - my soccer team winning our first game for the season (after a loss and two draws).

It was also very good watching the woman I was marking get so cross she almost imploded.

Housekeeping

ATTENTION: FOX NEWS BLOG SPAMMERS SECTION.

STOP FUCKING SPAMMING ME.

I WILL CONTINUE TO EDIT YOUR FREAKIN' LINKS SO THEY DON'T WORK.

THE ONLY SPAM THIS BLOG HAS EVER RECEIVED IS FROM FOX NEWS.

I WOULD RATHER EAT SNOT THAN WATCH OR RECOMMEND FOX NEWS.

SO FUCK OFF.

shitty

If her life was going to imitate thirdcat's art, it was disappointing for it to happen quite like this.

Rage piled upon fury

In today's Australian- "PARENTS who sacrifice their lifestyles to send their children to private schools should be thanked and supported with tax incentives and childcare support, says Labor Party national president Warren Mundine."

As I have said before, STOP BANGING ON ABOUT "SACRIFICE".

IF THE GOVERNMENT HAS TO COMPENSATE YOU, IT IS NOT A FRICKIN' SACRIFICE.

.